Right around the corner

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to send a big thank you to everyone who came to the "Commuter Series" event last night! I know the wind was brutal so thank you to you all that braved it to come play some Jeopardy and talk about resources! It's so nice to see people find things in common and get to know each other! That's what this is all about! (Shout out to Stephanie for winning Jeopardy!)

Feel free to stop in the office and check out our commuter map or pick up some of the information that was left regarding tobacco issues on campus! If you have any questions about this, please contact Emily VanWormer at evanwor1@emich.edu .

As the semester is wrapping up, I just want you all to start thinking about next semester! (Obviously focus on your finals and papers first :b) If there's anything you'd like to see happen with this initiative or any suggestions to make the program better, feel free to comment on here or contact me personally! (kbrow107@emich.edu)

Have a nice Thanksgiving break and good luck on all your finals!

Best,

Kaylee

P.S Here are some memes about finals for a little laugh! 

 

Commuter Series Event: Right before Turkey day!

It's that time of year again.

The end of the semester is coming and with that comes papers and tests and possibly some added stress!

What also comes is a nice little break called Thanksgiving Recess! (and hopefully no snow *fingers crossed*)

Before you spend some time with your family being thankful, spend some time with us learning more about what is available to you, to help you succeed! This won't just be your boring lecture but a discussion based around you and your experiences!

Join us on Monday, November 24th from 5-7 p.m at the Commuter Series! This event will take place in Starkweather Hall! There will be breakout games, snacks and another chance to win a prize!

If you would like to attend or add any suggestions, please fill out this survey:
 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9DGJSWF

More information is also in your email! Get the discussion going on the blog because this is all about YOU!

Hope to see you there!

Kaylee

Resources

So we all remember everything they told us at orientation right?

Wrong. At least for me. Those days you are so bombarded with information that it's hard to keep everything straight and prioritize what you actually need to know. Being a commuter, you probably aren't on campus as often to familiarize yourself with every building or if you're like me, every parking lot.

Q: Did you know that the parking department will jump your car if the battery dies?

I didn't when my car died after accidentally leaving my lights on during Honors orientation so I made my poor boyfriend drive 40 minutes to come save me. As I'm telling one of my residential friends about my bad luck, she tells me about this service and I felt like I didn't know anything about campus! 

Q: Are you really hungry during your long days here because you don't want to purchase food and don't know what you'd do with food from home?

There's microwaves all over campus open to use! I also didn't know this when I would starve all day just to go home and binge after 9-5 classes my first semester!

 This is why we are having our next event, Commuter Series, featuring all the resources that are available on campus! With the winter semester coming up quickly, even more resources and tips are needed (unless some of us like those two hour morning drives :b). I invite you to post any tips you have found while being a student about winter driving, parking, anything you can think of! What have your experiences been, negative and positive, and what would you like to see changed for the future? I know you all have thoughts about this so please comment below :)

Anything discussed on here will be added to an information sheet for our upcoming event as well as possibly to be handed out at future orientations! Let's make all of our lives easier!

Thanks everyone,

Kaylee

My general tip for Winter semesters: Always wake up early enough to check the news for traffic/weather updates so you give yourself enough time to make it to class!

Choices, choices and more choices

Hello everyone!

As I'm sure most of you know, Tuesday starts registration for classes for the Winter semester! One of the lovely perks of being an Honors student is that you get to pick your classes before the rest but it's also a time of many decisions! Which Honors classes are you taking? Are you on track with your gen ed's? Is this the right major/minor combination for you? The questions go on and on.

Obviously there's numerous factors that go into choosing classes (like what sections are available), but I always find myself having the dilemma of which days I'd rather be on campus. Being a commuter means that you have to schedule everything in a very particular way to fit it all in. The past two semesters I had classes Monday and Wednesday, but now for the fellowship I am also on campus Tuesdays.

Is it just me or is there a lot more people on campus on Tuesday?! It seems so much harder to park, and I get here around 9! If you come around 11, like I did when I had that terrible but stereotypical "I'm late" moment, it seemed my only options were a pay lot or way behind the student center! What do you think?

After that I realized that I was glad to have classes MW, even though Monday is usually the most hated day of the week. (right?)

 Of course that means that all the classes I needed this upcoming semester landed on TH! So for the first time ever, I'm taking a 8:00 a.m class to, hopefully, beat the rush to campus! Does this mean that I'll have to leave my house at 5:00 when the roads are really bad? Gosh I hope not...but we do live in Michigan so only time will tell. It's definitely going to be different not having a bunch of classes back to back but it's good to get out of your comfort zone and make some change!

What days do you prefer classes on? Why? Comment below :)

P.S If you're on campus Wednesdays, keep an eye out for the Mockingjay tickets so you can see the early showing next month with the Honors College!

P.S.S We are going to be sending our RSVP survey for the Commuter Series soon!

Email me with any questions and please get the discussion going here! And here's a little something for Tuesday:

Best,

Kaylee

Rain rain go away!

Hello everyone!

So as many of you may know, last week was our first kickoff event! Unfortunately, the rain decided to crash the party! Personally, I'd rather drive in snow than rain! However, the event still was super successful!

Thank you so much to everyone who braved the rain for some delicious donuts and cider from Wiard's! I really think that everyone had a lot of common and so conversation flowed smoothly! We really hope to see more of you at our next event: "Commuter Series" that will start sometime probably early next month!

Feel free to stop in Starkweather and add your pin to our map of where you commute from! Tell your friends! We want the map to fill up with pins so we can recognize our great and unique students!

Remember, the success of this program depends on you! As always, email me with any questions/comments (kbrow107@emich.edu)!
 

Kaylee


What did you like most about the event? Comment below! :)

Quote of the week: "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door" - Milton Berle

Fall into the Commuter Program

Hello!

Our first event is less than a week away!

The event will take place on Tuesday, October 14th from 4-6  p.m and the location will be room 247 in McKenny Hall! This is where we will enjoy our cider and donuts from Wiard's apple orchard and see a presentation. This presentation will include information about upcoming events, allow everyone to get to know each other and will hopefully answer any questions you may have! We will also be doing a craft to show off our pride of being commuters for the Honors College!

If you haven't, please fill out this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7M27C2

Please fill it out even if you cannot attend that way we know why and can plan better in the future!
 We are super excited about this event and hope you are!

What are you most excited about for this program?! Comment below! :)

Thanks so much and feel free to email me with any questions or concerns,

Kaylee

Welcome!

Hello all!

My name is Kaylee Brown, and I am a student fellow at the Honors College. This is also my second year of commuting to EMU.  My position as a student fellow is to address the needs and concerns of honors commuter students to help them feel more a part of this community and give more avenues to get involved. This fall, the Honors College is launching a new Commuter Program that will entail events and activities to help increase involvement of commuter students. The success of this new program is in part based on your help and the feedback that you give us. I will do my best to represent the commuter population within the Honors College by providing opportunities that best fit your needs.

What’s the blog for?! I’m glad you asked! This is one of the many ways we hope to stay in touch as well as to hear your thoughts and ideas! This is a very new concept and in the initial survey we sent out, several of you suggested that this would be a great way to chat with fellow students and find information. With the varying schedules, it’s sometimes hard to have consistent communication, but we are hoping with this blog you can participate at your leisure.

This is my first time using a blog so bear with me, I hope to share things on this blog like traffic updates, construction, best places to park, etc. As well as to vent and discuss being a commuter and hopefully open a thread for non-traditional students. The main point of this is to network and let you know when our events are and what you can do to get involved!

Any suggestions or ideas are much appreciated so feel free to email me at kbrow107@emich.edu
Be sure to watch your email as we are currently planning the upcoming events!

Kaylee